Agricultural News
National Cattlemen's Beef Association Sees Serious Animal Health Concerns in Opening US Market to Fresh Brazilian Beef
Mon, 01 Aug 2016 20:16:14 CDT
Earlier on Monday- the USDA announced that Brazil was going to open their market to US Beef. However, in the same announcement, it was also indicated that Brazilian beef would be allowed access into the United States- "USDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) also recently determined that Brazil's food safety system governing meat products remains equivalent to that of the United States and that fresh (chilled or frozen) beef can be safely imported from Brazil. Following a multi-year science based review consistent with U.S. food safety regulations for countries that export meat, poultry and egg products to the U.S., FSIS is amending the list of eligible countries and products authorized for export to the United States to allow fresh (chilled or frozen) beef from Brazil."
In response to that announcement- the following Statement was made by Tracy Brunner, NCBA president, regarding the USDA APHIS announcement.
"The Administration's decision to move forward and allow fresh and frozen beef imports from Brazil is of continued concern as the Government Accountability Office is still reviewing the methodology used during the decision-making process. Furthermore, USDA has failed to provide the detailed and documented science-based review of the risk evaluation protocols for determining an animal health status for countries; information requested by the U.S. beef industry and Congress last year in order to alleviate serious animal health concerns. With so much at stake, there is no reason USDA shouldn't be forthcoming with information and willing to wait for the completion of the GAO audit.
"Most importantly, we need the U.S. Government to take the proper precaution and ensure a robust Foot-and-Mouth Disease vaccine bank. The U.S. cattle herd has not been exposed to FMD since 1929, and the current lack of FMD preparedness could devastate our industry if our herd is exposed to the highly communicable disease. We cannot afford to jeopardize our nation's livestock herds, which are the foundation of our global food supply, before all the possible risks to animal health and food safety have been properly addressed and precautions have been established."
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